


The Forest of Arcturus

by theamberissubtle



Series: Dianakko Week 2018 [2]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Camping, Danger, F/F, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 12:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15315942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theamberissubtle/pseuds/theamberissubtle
Summary: Finally confident in her ability to fly, Akko offers to take Diana on a broom ride around Luna Nova. If only it were that simple.Dianakko Week 2018: Day 2 // Danger





	The Forest of Arcturus

It all started because Diana couldn’t resist Akko’s pleas.  
  
She was weak against the wide-eyes, sad pout and _pretty_ _pleeeeease Diana, I really want to spend time with you_.  
  
Honestly, how was she supposed to say no to that? In the end she didn’t, instead nodding to Akko’s request for a broom ride later that evening. They agreed to meet outside the castle just before sunset.  
  
Akko gave her the brightest smile imaginable, looking truly excited to meet with her outside of school hours – that wasn’t spent together in the library or with other people, anyway - and Diana was once again reminded of her heart’s penchant for twanging painfully against her chest whenever Akko smiled at her like that.  
  
She almost huffed about it afterwards, absentmindedly watching her friend bound over to Lotte and Sucy so they could make their way to dinner. She didn’t have the _time_ for a crush. Although her new plans that evening were evidence to the contrary. All the work she had lined up, all the tasks she had to complete before the end of term, all the responsibilities as a Cavendish, completely neglected against the power of one brunette’s irresistible insistence that they become better friends.  
  
Diana was _so_ weak.  
  
“Huh?” Barbara asked, looking up from her crystal ball communicator. “What was that?”  
  
Oh bother. She didn’t even hear her friends appear she was so lost in her musings.

“Nothing,” Diana said quickly, trying to act like she wasn’t caught off guard. Maintaining a façade of haughtiness around people who knew her too well was fast becoming a difficult task. “Shall we head to dinner?”  
  
“Sure,” Hannah said, sharing a glance with Barbara that she probably thought was coy.  
  
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Diana led them inside and into the busy dining hall. She knew that they were both convinced she’d developed feelings for Akko, and though they were keeping quiet for now, simply regarding her with certain knowing looks every now and again, Diana knew it was only a matter of time before they broached the topic with her - something she definitely wasn’t ready for. She would like to suffer in silence thank you very much.  
  
It still didn’t stop her from looking over to Akko’s table throughout the whole of dinner. Silently pining was a shade away from silently suffering anyway. Fuel to the fire indeed, she sighed, watching Hannah obviously nudge Barbara in the side to direct her gaze over to the Red Team’s table where Akko was… looking directly at her.  
  
Diana froze in her seat.  
  
Upon being noticed, Akko sent a sheepish grin her way, waving a fork full of mashed potato in greeting, and Diana cursed her body for the thousandth time for reacting with a little shock of excitement.  
  
“Young love,” Barbara sighed blissfully, quickly coughing to cover up her slip of the tongue. Hannah spared a glance at Diana, who raised an eyebrow back at her. Her friend gulped and not so surreptitiously elbowed Barbara in the side, causing her to let out a sharp inhalation of breath in surprise.  
  
Diana could only roll her eyes at their unintentional double-act shenanigans. They were hardly subtle at the best of times but hopefully her glare had been sufficient enough to buy her a few more days of relative peace. Optimistically she could even make it to the summer holidays without a single word of encouragement heading her way. Maybe then she’d be able to bury her crush deep, deep do -  
  
“Diana?”  
  
Akko was standing there, gently calling for her attention. When on earth had she left her table? All of this daydreaming was turning her into a dribbling buffoon. Strengthening her resolve, she met Akko’s eyes, trying her utmost to avoid looking at Hannah and Barbara who were probably on the edge of their seats with anticipation.  
  
“Do you want to head out now? I’ve got my broom with me.”  
  
Akko was uncharacteristically nervous as though she was afraid Diana would say no despite promising earlier. The least Diana could do was pretend everything was okay, despite the fact her heart was hammering hard, so she smiled at her reassuringly. She wasn’t a Cavendish for nothing; her whole life had been an exercise in poise. “Of course. I’m all finished. Shall we go outside?”  
  
The grin Akko levelled her then caused her knees to shake. Perhaps normalcy was aiming too high. Perhaps she could settle for get-through-an-interaction-without-blushing instead.  
  
Akko kept to her side the entire walk outside, and Diana was half-tempted to glance back at the dinner hall to see their friends’ reactions. If she strained her ears, she would probably hear Hannah and Barbara dashing over to the Red Team’s table to blurt out their observations and compare notes. Somehow, she almost longed for the stress caused by Croix. At least then everyone was preoccupied.

The evening was drawing to a close, the orange sunset picturesque as it cast a beautiful light across Luna Nova’s grounds. Akko took a deep breath and started to stretch, throwing out one arm and then the other in true Akko fashion.  
  
“Gotta limber up,” Akko told her seriously, bending to touch her toes. “I’m not getting broom ache tomorrow.”  
  
Diana watched her, nonplussed. Was broom ache even a thing? Trust Akko to be susceptible to whatever ailment that was.    
  
“No limbering up for you, DC?”  
  
“I don’t like that nickname, either,” Diana grumbled, thinking back on every name Akko had tried on her so far and hating that one the most, but she pacified Akko’s look with one or two lackadaisical stretches of her own, figuring she looked idiotic at best.  
  
If her Aunt could see her now… She tossed a glance to the windows, half-expecting to see Hannah’s and Barbara’s noses pressed against it.  
  
Akko ended her routine by cracking her fingers.

“I’m ready, totally ready, there’s no need to be nervous. Are you nervous? Please don’t be nervous, I can fly, really, you saw it yourself last week-”  
  
And Diana thought _she_ was worrying herself into an early grave.  
  
“Akko.” Diana put a hand on her arm and Akko stopped babbling instantly. “You can fly. You’re right, there’s nothing to be nervous about.”  
  
It had been a long time coming but after last week’s successful trial she hadn’t wavered once, or lost the ability. This was the first time she’d offered a ride to anyone else, a true sign that she was both comfortable and confident with her burgeoning magical powers.  Being asked to accompany Akko was flattering – yet another reason she couldn’t turn down this request.  
  
Bolstered by her reassurance, Akko grabbed her broom, seated herself on it, and looked to Diana expectantly, a little red in the cheeks.  
  
Diana’s heart was pounding at the invitation but she could hardly go on a broom ride without adhering to this vital step, so she summoned some Cavendish courage and strode to where Akko was sitting, climbing on with all the delicacy she could muster, and wrapped her arms around her tentatively, trying to ignore the fact her palms were holding – _holding_ – Akko’s waist. Had anyone ever been so aware of their own hands before? There were only two layers between them: her hands, Akko’s cloak and white shirt. Diana knew she was blushing; she was just grateful it was impossible to tell from the angle.  
  
“Comfortable?” Akko asked after a moment, her voice coming out a little hoarse.  
  
Actually, she was. Too much, probably. Diana told her _yes_ once she’d found her voice and Akko obediently kicked off from the ground, much gentler than she would do ordinarily because “duh I have precious cargo.”

Diana hated herself for swooning.  
  
They rose up gradually, Akko getting used to the extra weight on her broom, and Diana took a moment to admire the surrounding view: Luna Nova was truly a beautiful castle. It was old and dilapidated and more than one room had some form of unpleasant odour pouring from the cracks in the wall, but it was home. Things were finally looking up for the school, too. More applications had come through in the space of the last month than the entire previous year.  
  
Saving the world with magic was good for business.  
  
“Looks awesome from this angle, right?” Akko asked giddily. “This is the best part about flying. I always thought it would be going really fast and racing but I realised that I like this the most, looking out at things I ordinarily wouldn’t get to see.” She twisted her head to direct her next comment more directly. “Thank you for being my first ever broom buddy.”  
  
Diana heart thud thud thudded. She wondered if Akko could feel it. They were pressed together rather intimately, her entire front resting against Akko’s back. She wondered if Akko was aware of every inch of her like she was; whether she was aware of the soft heat or the pressure from her palms. Was her brain tuned into these innocent touches like hers was?  
  
“I’m honoured,” Diana told her truthfully.  
  
“It doesn’t hurt that you’re a magical genius and could stop us from falling to our deaths,” Akko remarked cheekily.  “Shall we go further out?”  
  
“That is why you urgently required my presence, yes?”  
  
“You could say ‘sure Akko’ like a normal person,” Akko huffed teasingly, guiding her broom beyond the closest trees. “And I _required your presence_ because I … like you. I like spending time with you.”  
  
The words lingered in the air, and Diana could feel her heartbeat in her ears.  “I enjoy your company, too,” she murmured, half-hoping the syllables would be lost in the wind.  
  
However Akko’s ears were turning red. Noticing, Diana felt a swell of affection and considered her boldness worth it.  
  
There was something fizzling between them. In moments like this, Diana recognised it, and she wholeheartedly believed Akko felt it, too. Whatever it was. Whatever it meant for them. Before Diana could test the waters further, Akko’s broom veered off route sharply, so sharply in fact that Akko gasped and Diana instinctively clutched her tightly.  
  
“What the –“  
  
The broom twisted left and right in quick succession, almost as though it were being knocked off course by a powerful wind.  
  
Quickly, Diana whipped out her wand from her cloak and searched the sky. Nothing was amiss; the sky was darker than before, the sun finally setting, but the wind was normal and no else was around. Yet it felt like someone was knocking them off course.  
  
“I can’t control it!” Akko panicked, doing her best to hold the broom straight. “It’s not me, I swear -"  
  
Diana believed her, tightening her hold on Akko’s waist. She could protect them if they were shaken off the broom completely; she just had to keep a level head and remember her spells.

“Diana, what – WAAAHHHHHHHH.”  
  
Just like that, the broom dipped and headed straight for the Forest of Arcturus, Akko screeching all the while. The speed in which they travelled was so unexpected and sudden that the pair could do little else but hold on. At the last possible second before impact Diana yelled out a protective spell before they were enveloped by trees on the final descent.  
  
The next few seconds were a blur of flashing colours until… nothing.  
  
She’d landed softly thanks to her last minute spell, and it was with great relief she found Akko sprawled and in one piece… on top of her.  
  
“Ow,” Akko muttered, dispelling the drama in an instant.

She seemed to register that her soft pillow was in fact Diana and attempted to lift herself off her. Instead of a smooth departure, however, she entangled them further; Diana’s cloak was caught in Akko’s legs and her struggling was causing them to be pulled further together. Still in survival mode, she told her to stop wriggling. Akko obediently held still while Diana figured out how to free them.  
  
“You’re okay?” Akko asked quickly, desperately, leaning in. “You’re – okay?”  
  
“Nothing’s broken,” she reassured her.

Never mind falling fall from the sky, she was far from alright, tangled up with Akko like this.  
  
Akko was watching her, almost examining her face, and Diana was so distracted by that that she almost forgot why they were in this position in the first place – why they’d fallen out of the sky as though their broom had been sabotaged. It was so at odds with the summer’s day and the lazy broom ride they’d been experiencing that Diana almost asked Akko to pinch her.  
  
“You’re…”  
  
Diana looked up, and Akko looked startled, almost as though she hadn’t realised she’d spoken.  
  
“I’m?” she asked, trying to unclip her cloak with as much finesse as she could muster.  
  
“Oh. Um.” Akko couldn’t fidget so she looked away, her cheeks flaming. “Pretty,” she whispered, looking back almost guiltily. “Sorry, it’s not exactly a great time to say that, but I couldn’t help but notice… We fell out of the actual sky and hit a ton of branches on the way down and yet you look...”  
  
Akko flushed even more and chuckled awkwardly, trying to rub the back of her neck before realising her arms were still trapped.  
  
Diana became aware of every limb she had, and how many of them were tangled with Akko’s at that very moment. She had a leg trapped and bare skin was brushing hers; it made her face light up and her fingers fumbled on the clasp.  
  
“T-thanks,” she stuttered out, for lack of anything better to say.  
  
She couldn’t escape Akko’s gaze, not when they were sitting so close together, and she found herself losing all conscious thought as she stared into rather beautiful maroon eyes. If she wasn’t losing her mind completely, she could have worn that they were dilating, and Akko’s lips were getting closer -  
  
She pulled back with sudden shock, realising what she was doing. Leaning in! For a kiss! Right now, in the Forest of Arcturus!  
  
“Got it!” she said triumphantly, throwing off the cloak victoriously and not caring one iota about finesse.  
  
She was free from temptation! She quickly stood up, distracting herself by brushing her clothes down. Dazed, Akko remained on the floor, blinking up at her.  
  
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Diana asked, trying to skirt over her awkwardness. “From the fall?”  
  
“Oh. Yeah. You cushioned me pretty well,” she joked, stretching out her arms and legs.  
  
Diana marvelled at her ability to tell jokes at a time like this.  
  
“What now?”  
  
After brushing themselves off and clearing their throats, they finally took stock of their situation. First of all, the broom was nowhere in sight, and nor was a clear path out of the forest. The light was fading fast as night loomed and neither one of them had their crystal ball communicators.  
  
But they had their wands, and their wits.  
  
Supposedly.  
  
Diana was still recovering from her complete lapse in judgement. She’d almost _kissed_ Akko.  
  
“We could try and walk out?” Akko suggested. “We can’t have fallen too far in; we’re just on the edges. Besides, someone will come look for us if we’re in here too long. I told Lotte and Sucy we were going flying.”  
  
“They’ll notice we’re missing but they won’t know exactly where we are,” Diana pointed out, figuring the same for Barbara and Hannah.  
  
Akko glanced at her. “Ah, you have a point. Plus, um, they might think… I don’t want to be interrupted.”  
  
Diana’s eyes snapped up. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Oh. Um.” Akko motioned to her. “T – they probably think I’ve lost track of time or something.”  
  
“For hours?” Diana raised an eyebrow, not following at all. Lotte was responsible; she would override all of Sucy’s schemes.  
  
“Well, yeah.” Akko was still being vague, rubbing the back of her neck like she did when she was nervous. She seemed to sense that Diana wasn’t getting it and breathed deeply. “They’re just going to think that I don’t want to be disturbed because I’m with you. Alone.”  
  
She let the words hang there.  
  
In realisation, Diana’s eyes widened. There was a lot in that insinuation. Namely, that Akko wanted to be alone with her in the first place, that her friends knew about it and… Did it mean what she thought it meant? Did Akko mean -  
  
“Hannah and Barbara too,” Diana blurted out, still trying to work through her cloudy thoughts. “They would also assume…” She motioned between them.  
  
Akko laughed nervously and it was quite clear they both understood but did not want to grasp the implications of their friends’ intentions. For their own sanity.  
  
“Let’s return to this conversation later,” Diana said matter of factly, trying to dislodge the haze. “We really do need to figure a way out.”  
  
“Right! Yes! A plan!”  
  
Akko seemed eager to brush past it, too, and Diana found herself grateful.  If she dwelled on the fact both of their friendship groups suspected that they would get lost in one another so thoroughly that they wouldn’t resurface until the morning…  
  
“Hey, where’s the broom?” Akko mused, doing a twirl. “Not that I want it, the treacherous beast, but I figured Professor Holbrooke would be concerned about lost property. And it tried to kill us. She might also care about that part.”  
  
Diana scanned the clearing, too. “Let’s not waste time looking for it,” she said, looking to the sky – it really was getting dark. “It’s odd but it almost felt like someone was controlling it. Is that how it felt to you?”  
  
“Yeah, like it was out of my control. I couldn’t do a thing.”  
  
She looked so disheartened that Diana instinctively walked over to her. “It does not reflect your flying abilities, Akko. We’ll get to the bottom of it, once we’ve returned to the castle.”  
  
She smiled at her gratefully. “So, um, shall we try and walk out of here?”  
  
“I see no better option. Our magical abilities are dulled in the forest, so something like a messenger spell is impossible. The best we can hope for is not to run into anything on the way out,” Diana said, feeling better already at establishing a logical plan.  
  
“Yeah, a giant chicken almost ate me the last time,” Akko reasoned, gripping her wand. In good spirits, she straightened out her cloak and bounded forward. “I pick this way!”  
  
Seeing no reason to linger, or doubt her direction, Diana followed, mind whirring with all the possible spells to send an SOS to the castle that didn’t require complicated magic. Sadly, nothing was coming to mind: the complexity of her cushioning spell was the most she would be able to accomplish in this forest, and even that was achieved because she started uttering it before they entered the thick foliage.  
  
But it wouldn’t do to panic just yet.  
  
Besides, Akko was taking it rather well: she was still pulling tiny branches from her person, shaking her head this way and that to dislodge various leaves. Stifling a smile, Diana picked up her pace so they could hold a conversation.  
  
“I really meant what I said. Your magic has come a long way, Akko,” she told her, removing a twig from her own hair.  
  
“Thanks, Diana,” Akko said shyly, avoiding her eyes. “I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere, you know? Like all of last year wasn’t for nothing.”  
  
Diana smiled kindly. “It would never have been for nothing. I understand what you mean, though. Wakarimashita,” she said hesitantly, hoping she was pronouncing it right.  
  
Akko’s gaze snapped to her. She even stopped walking. “You spoke Japanese!”  
  
“I…” Diana blushed, quickly overtaking her so she could avoid her eyes. “I decided to learn.”  
  
“What!”  
  
Hurrying after her, Akko grabbed her elbow. “You can’t just say that and run away! You’re learning Japanese!?”  
  
“I am,” Diana confirmed, a little shy. Akko’s reaction was exceeding her expectations. She was hoping for positive reinforcement, but this was something else: it was making her entire body heat up, pleased and self-conscious in equal measure.  
  
She was learning it _for her_. That was left unspoken, flickering between them. Akko was looking at her like she was… godly.  
  
“I thought I’d try my hand at it alone first… I was hoping to surprise you with a better sentence than that.”  
  
“Diana… you’re learning it to so you can speak to me?”  
  
She was _so_ hot under the collar.

“ I – yes,” she revealed. There was no other explanation. “You speak English so fluently – wonderfully, in fact. But I thought that it would be nice if you could speak your native language once in a while. It’s a really lovely language.”  
  
“I’m…” Akko’s eyes were glistening with tears, and Diana finally stopped still upon noticing. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s every done for me,” she sniffled, putting both hands on Diana’s forearms to hold her there. “Seriously, I don’t know what to say.”  
  
“Don’t congratulate me just yet,” Diana said, trying to lighten the mood. “I haven’t made a lot of progress.”  
  
“Still, the fact that you’re even trying! And if Diana Cavendish wants to learn something, I think she’ll do it just fine.”  
  
Akko beamed at her.  
  
Right then, Diana vowed that she would become fluent in Japanese, just so Akko could look at her like that all the time. “Akko, I -"  
  
Before she could finish her sentence, there was a rustling beside them and Akko’s grip on her arms tightened as she looked to the side. “Tell me it’s not a giant chicken,” she whimpered, hardly daring to glance.  
  
Diana whipped out her wand and took a deep breath, wondering what Arcturus creatures could be lurking in the shadows. What if it _was_ a giant chicken -  
  
Squawk.  
  
A crow landed on the clearing beside them, tilting its head inquisitively.  
  
Akko looked to it and snorted. “That’s an average sized bird, thank god.”  
  
The crow looked at her as though it understood what she was saying. In response, it opened its mouth and spit out a rather large ball of fire.  
  
Diana’s eyes widened as it landed close to their feat. She and Akko looked to one another and then back at the crow who was gearing up for another ball of flames before simultaneously yelling, “RUN!”  
  
Grabbing her hand, Diana dragged Akko through the trees ahead. She’d read about those creatures before; they could get bigger and more dragon-like as they got angrier, their fire more intense, and it just so happened Akko had insulted it.  
  
“Sorry,” Akko gasped, gripping her hand tightly in return as she stumbled over a tree root. “I didn’t know it could do that! Or understand me! Sucy said they can turn into dragons-"  
  
After running for several moments, they finally had to come to a stop, out of breath and clutching their sides. It was hard to say which direction they’d gone in after their initial panic had caused them to stride ahead and whack all branches and leaves out of the way. All that mattered was murder-crow-dragon wasn’t following them.  
  
“So much for a quick way out,” Akko muttered, her body dropping unceremoniously to the floor after scanning the vicinity and deeming it safe. “I’m exhausted.”  
  
Diana quickly muttered the lightest protection spell she knew, watching the glimmer settle over their enclosure. It wouldn’t do much against murder-crow, or anything other than a large beetle, really, but it was better than nothing. All they needed was a minute to calm down and evaluate their position.

Once again, all that surrounded them were thick trees, blocking out the last remains of the sun.  
  
“Scary things come out at night here, right?” Akko gulped, looking around cautiously, hands splayed behind her to prop herself up. “I don’t fancy getting eaten by a werewolf or something. Look, the moon’s out!”  
  
Diana glanced upwards. She was right; the moon was indeed making an appearance.  
  
She sighed. She’d really hoped they would be out of here by now. It must have been longer than an hour since they’d left the castle… perhaps their friends were getting concerned? Sighing again, she sat on the ground, too. Hannah and Barbara wouldn’t look for her if they thought she was losing time with Akko.  
  
She felt a soft pressure on her hand – Akko’s hand was resting atop hers.  
  
“Shall we stay here tonight?” she asked, craning her neck to see her.  
  
“I suppose we’ll have to,” Diana reasoned. “It will be safer at first sunlight.”  
  
Rather than looking dismayed by the idea, Akko grinned. “I haven’t been camping in years!”  
  
“I’ve never been camping.”  
  
“That does not surprise me.”  
  
Diana frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
Akko grinned at her delightedly. “You can’t bring a castle and servants to the woods, Diana,” she teased.  
  
Affronted, Diana huffed and turned her back on her.  
  
“This isn’t camping anyway,” Akko mused, waving off her indignation. “You’d need a tent for that. All we have is shrubbery and cloaks… and there’s no food.”  
  
“We just ate dinner.”  
  
Akko waved her hand. “There’s always room for snacks.”  
  
Diana tried not to smile, she really did. She shuffled back over to where Akko was sitting. “Everything will be okay,” she reassured, trying to speak with authority. Perhaps then she’d believe it, too.  
  
“Of course it will, I’m with you,” Akko said sweetly, nudging their shoulders together.  
  
She blushed, feeling a swell of affection. Despite the circumstances, she was having a strangely nice time. If a giant chicken were to eat them, at least she was relatively at peace.  
  
“So! Let’s treat this like a sleepover, murder-crow notwithstanding. Hmm... I never really had sleepovers growing up. Although I guess Luna Nova is one big sleepover. Shall we tell scary stories? You see that a lot in films.”  
  
Diana didn’t want to point out that those films were usually prefacing a serial killer’s rampage, but wisely chose to keep quiet. Except Akko figured out fairly quickly that they were potentially living in a scary story of their own and chose to scrap that idea.  
  
Diana, who was keen to find out more about what Akko’s friends were saying, prompted the conversation  - and tried to be sly about it. “Are you sure your friends won’t be alarmed?”

“Yeah, Lotte might sound the alarm,” Akko said, leaning fully against Diana now, both of their feet stretched out in front of them. They’d long since dragged a log from the dense forest to rest their backs against, and they were bathed in moonlight, Diana’s wand providing extra light in front of them. “I wouldn’t bet on it, though. She likes NightFall a lot.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Oh, you know, two people getting lost in the woods with nothing but their body heat to keep them warm…” Akko snorted, shaking her head so it jostled against Diana’s collarbone. “It’s the stuff she loves to read about.”  
  
“Oh, right.” Diana cleared her throat.  
  
Body heat? She was rather warm, pressed intimately against Akko like this. The strange circumstances had stopped her overanalysing their close positions – it just made good sense to stick close together. But now, she realised that it was truly intimate, sitting together like this. Akko was even resting a hand on her leg as though she too were caught up in the moment.  
  
It was like a spell had been cast on the evening. All the things that the castle prevented them from doing, saying or acting upon no longer mattered. Diana almost snorted. The Forest of Arcturus, the breaker of rules and reason.  
  
Like this, Diana felt like she could tell Akko about her feelings. It was making her feel bold and reckless and a little stupid. So why didn’t she summon up the courage? Rather than think herself into paralysis, she let her mouth fall open, hoping the right words would spill out. “I’m actually having a lovely time,” she said, relieved at putting sensible syllables together.  
  
“Me too,” Akko smiled, snuggling closer. “This isn’t what I had in mind when I asked you on a broom ride tonight, but it might actually be better. Besides, it’s not often we get uninterrupted time together. It’s nice. Maybe we could… do something like this when we get back? Um, ice cream or something. Or cake! Whatever you like…in town.” Akko let her sentence end, tensing up.  
  
Diana’s heartbeat was thudding in her ears again. “I’d love that,” she whispered.  
  
Akko let out a breath of relief.  
  
“I actually… wanted to tell you something,” Diana said, feeling braver after realising Akko was putting herself out there. Now or never, she told herself. If she convinced herself that murder-crow would kill them both, it might be easier to spit out the words that had been haunting her for weeks. “Lately I’ve been wanting to say that I – I-“

Oh, it was so much harder than she’d anticipated! Say the words, Diana! Think of it as now or never, life and death. Murder crow!

“That I…”

But Akko was looking at her with such understanding and affection that she suddenly didn’t feel so ridiculous, letting her words falter like that and hang in the clearing with the fireflies. Instead Akko dipped her head, slowly, clearly giving Diana the time to move if she wanted, but Diana didn’t want to move a muscle, hitching a breath as their lips met for the first time.  
  
Soft.  
  
That was the first thing she registered. The next thing was _this feels wonderful._ She raised a hand to cup Akko’s face, holding her there while their lips moved gently against one another. Akko sighed contently against her mouth as though she’d been waiting to do this for a long time. Their pace was slow, delicate, like they had all the time in the world.  
  
“Me too,” Akko whispered against her lips as they broke apart, and Diana would have found it amusing, how much coherence Akko had at that moment, how self-assured she was, if she didn’t know Akko as intimately as she did: this was a witch who charged ahead in life, putting all her efforts into what she wanted.    
  
She wanted _her_. She wanted Diana.  She closed her eyes and let her forehead rest on Akko’s, still cupping her cheek. “Thank you for making this easy.”  
  
She felt Akko’s grin. “You seemed to be having trouble with the words so I thought I’d help out.”  
  
Diana laughed, choosing not to mention that she could feel Akko’s whole body shaking.

They sat together for a long while, talking about everything and nothing, sometimes kissing and other times not, but always touching, sitting together closely. It was truly enchanting, like nothing else mattered: not the forest, the castle, the everyday realities.

They were Diana and Akko as they wanted to be, together without pressure or expectation – or even nerves or embarrassment. It would end, this moment, and they both knew it so they cherished it.   
  
“Just this afternoon I was considering never speaking a word of my feelings,” Diana mused, thinking back to just a few hours ago that may have belonged to another lifetime.  
  
Perturbed, Akko sat ramrod straight. “I don’t want to think about that! I was … always going to say something to you. I think. I hope. I was just waiting for the right time.”  
  
“I’m glad,” Diana whispered. “I don’t know if I could have been brave enough.”  
  
“Pshh, that’s nonsense.” Akko waved off her words. “You’re super brave. Besides, I was trying to make it obvious that I liked you, even though my flirting technique isn’t, um, refined. But I was getting there! Next I was going to suggest a picnic.”  
  
Charmed, Diana chuckled, feeling her heart twang with affection.  
  
Satisfied, Akko leaned back against her.  
  
As the night wore on and their clearing remained empty, they settled down to sleep, creating a makeshift bed out of leaves that Diana threaded together with a spell, tangled up so close together that they could have been mistaken for one person.  
  
“I like this kind of camping,” Akko murmured into her neck.  
  
“And look, not a servant in sight…” Diana teased, drawing her arm tighter around her shoulders.  
  
It was like she was like a whole other person right now.  It was easy to hold Akko like this, to lose herself in their embrace.  
  
She didn’t know why it felt so natural, only that it did, and that’s all that mattered.  


* * *

  
  
Considering the circumstances, they both slept rather well. Diana was particularly surprised: she hadn’t ever slept outside, never mind in a perilous forest. Perhaps camping was a hobby she could get on board with…

Despite the fact they’d been missing from the castle overnight, with any number of dangerous creatures lurking at the edges of their makeshift camp, Akko was difficult to rouse, an arm and a leg thrown over Diana’s body. It made for a warm blanket, Diana thought, but they did ought to make their way out of the forest while they still could.  
  
“Five more minutes,” Akko grumbled, snuggling closer into Diana’s side.  
  
“It’s light out, we should try and find a way out,” she said, trying to be the voice of reason. It didn’t help that she was reluctant to move. “Akko,” she said pointedly, trying to shift the bulk of her weight.  
  
Akko sighed and sat up, her hair a mess. “Not fair. I was having a nice dream.”  
  
Diana set about folding up her cloak and running a hand through her hair to dislodge the tangles. “Oh?”  
  
Akko grinned lazily, stretching out. “It had you in it. We kissed – a lot.”  
  
Diana flushed to the roots of her hair, relieved that they hadn’t lost  _this_. After last night she’d convinced herself that things would be strange or at least different during the daylight hours; that if the mystical spell were broken, they wouldn’t be the same people revealing their feelings together under the moonlight.    
  
“We can kiss in the castle,” Diana reasoned, still blushing. “Let’s get a move on.”  
  
“Roger that,” Akko yawned, bundling up her own cloak. “Jeez, it’s unfair that you look so pretty after sleeping on the ground, outside, after trudging through a forest for hours AND being chased by a fire-breathing bird.”  
  
“Thank you?”  
  
“You’re welcome!”  
  
Diana managed to cast a compass with her wand to give them a vague idea out of the forest. It didn’t take long for Akko to grab her hand and entwine their fingers, beaming when she caught Diana’s eye.  
  
“What? I have a girlfriend now. How can I NOT be expected to hold her hand?”  
  
As they strolled through the trees, which were less intimidating in the morning sun, it became apparent that their path was clearing the closer they got to the edges of the forest, almost like it was being swept to one side to grant them access.  
  
“Strange,” Diana muttered, torn between wanting to investigate and wanting to get herself and Akko out of danger as soon as possible.  
  
“Look! The exit!” Akko, yelped, pointing gleefully and yanking her along so they could walk the final steps together.  
  
When she stepped foot outside of the forest, she fell to the ground and kissed it. “Luna Nova I’ll never leave you again I promise-”  
  
“THEY’RE HERE!”  
  
Both witches looked up sharply at the noise, surprised to see Lotte anxiously clasping her hands a few metres away.  
  
“Hannah, Barbara, she’s here!”  
  
“DIANA!”

Hannah and Barbara barrelled over and engulfed their leader in a huge hug, causing her to stumble.  
  
“What-”  
  
“Akko,” Lotte greeted, sweeping her up in a hug, too, Sucy wandering over to pat her on the shoulder.  
  
Diana and Akko managed to catch eyes in the middle of their suffocating greetings.  
  
“You’re okay?” Hannah demanded, pulling back and scanning her from head to foot.  
  
Barbara ran her hand down a rip in her shirt, tutting, “We’ve been worried sick. Stupid Amanda thought it would be funny to cast a spell on your broom so it crashed near the runes but she mistimed it and it caused you to plummet into the Forest of Arcturus!  
  
“In my defense, _you_ were supposed to be providing backup!” Amanda snapped, motioning to the two of them. She turned abruptly to the dishevelled pair. “Look, it was only supposed to nudge you off course but I don’t know my own strength! And we figured you’d be fine enough in the forest... though we did look for you, I promise, and camp out here all night in case you stumbled out. We couldn’t exactly tell a teacher or else we’d get suspended! You know how it is, Akko.”  
  
Akko nodded glumly, accepting the explanation. Apparently their prospective deaths were ranked lower than possible expulsion and she was okay with that.  
  
Diana glared. “That is a ridiculous excuse.”  
  
“We were trying to give you two some proper time together,” Hannah sighed, scuffing her feet. “But the plan backfired.”  
  
“Murder-crow tried to burn us alive,” Akko said, nodding sagely.  
  
Lotte looked aghast while Sucy looked interested, but before anyone could say anything, Amanda gasped. “You two!” she yelped, frantically looking between them both. “You’re... IT WORKED!” She grinned wolfishly. “All our sins are forgiven, guys, our plan actually worked.”  
  
“What plan!” Diana finally snapped. “Your plan was to derail us so completely that we crashed into the forest, facing all kinds of dangers. You are not forgiven.”  
  
Unperturbed, Amanda continued grinning. “However,” she said slowly, enjoying the build-up. “You and Akko are together now, are you not?”  
  
Lotte clasped a hand to her mouth for the umpteenth time and Barbara gasped. “REALLY!?”  
  
“Let’s focus on the fact we could’ve been seriously injured-”  
  
“She’s my girlfriend,” Akko beamed, interrupting her tirade.  
  
Diana deflated, all her rage leaving her in one fell swoop because this was her life  – Akko would always blurt things out and their friends would always meddle.  
  
“We tried to create a path for your way out,” Sucy explained, disregarding the declaration completely; she looked rather miffed that they weren’t getting enough credit for their efforts. “We knew you’d be fine.”  
  
“Never mind that,” Hannah said, hearts in her eyes as she surveyed a blushing Diana and jubilant Akko. “You actually told her, Diana!”  
  
“We’re so proud of you,” Barbara chorused, exchanging a grin with Lotte as though to say _our work here is done_.  
  
“Yes, well...” Diana had nothing to say about that. Clearing her throat, she avoided everyone’s eyes, very aware she was looking – and feeling – rather dishevelled. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said to the group, “but this discussion is not over.”  
  
“Going with her, Akko?” Amanda grinned, nudging the other girl.  
  
Diana rolled her eyes again, wondering if it was possible for her face to get stuck that way. It was truly hard to dampen her mood, however, and she had a feeling that her friends were only just getting started on their teasing.  
  
“I do need a shower...” Akko declared, bounding after her, turning around briefly to shout back, “See you all up at the castle later!”  
  
Both of them ignored the resulting wolf-whistles as Akko grabbed her hand.  
  
“Did you have to say it like that?” Diana sighed as she entwined their fingers.  
  
Akko simply shrugged and grinned. “They were going to talk anyway.”  
  
“I suppose...”  
  
“So, um, after we shower – separately! – do you want to have breakfast together? I’m starving.”  
  
It turned out that Diana couldn’t resist Akko anything, and nor did she want to.

After, freshly showered and treating herself to the pancakes she usually avoided, listening to Akko chatter a mile a minute regaling their adventures to all their enraptured friends, their thighs brushing under the table, she thought about how it was worth every bit of panic they’d experienced the previous night. It was all so normal, so natural, that Diana couldn’t believe that life hadn’t always been that way.  


The ill-fated broom ride was the best thing that could have happened... not that she’d ever tell Amanda.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my second entry into Dianakko week. This idea was inspired by a reviewer on one of my previous stories - apologies because I can't remember who! - and it took on a life of its own.


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